Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Your teacher tasks you with writing a story based on an eavesdropped conversation. When the story is published, your subject isn’t happy.

Posted in Funny on May 10, 2024

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 15 stories

Best Served Cold

Submitted to Contest #250

(contains some swearing)Benny Peters farted and all of us at the back mimed suffocation by poison gas, giggling, gurgling, and holding our throats. Mr Hunt – as his first name was Kenneth, we sometimes used just the initial and his surname – was not amused.“Pipe down, you lot!” he bellowed and threw a blackboard rubber in our general direction. I ducked but it bounced off my forehead.“Ow!” I exclaimed, rubbing the spot. I could feel a bump rising already.“Serves you right!” Benny muttered through grinning teeth. I poked him in the ribs. He f...

20 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

Lynley Strikes Again

Submitted to Contest #250

My name is Lynley. I am eleven years old, and I attend middle school. My teacher, Miss Galloway, asked us to write a story about a conversation we shouldn’t have heard, either by accident or because we deliberately eavesdropped. Eavesdropping means standing below a house’s eaves to overhear a conversation you have no business listening to. Nowadays, it means you can be anywhere unseen, hanging out for private and scandalous snippets of news. It is like being a detective.I had fallen over and sprained my left hand. The bad...

15 likes 12 comments 12
Read story

Fly By

Submitted to Contest #250

"Nothing interesting ever happens to me. Ever. Trust me."He thought on it for a moment, dull expression briefly lighting up. “Oh wait, my cousin Dane got stuck between a window and a screen the other day. Yeah.” A furry leg scratches the back of his head with returned boredom. “They’re looking into if it was attempted trapping or not. So…”Michael’s teacher stills for a moment, tries to act like he’s pondering a story out of that information, then extends his feathered wing forward and grabs the framed picture on his desk, situated next to a ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

A Live Skunk.

Submitted to Contest #250

“You. Me. A Live Skunk. What are we going to do with it? Prank Ms. Donovan, of course! I can see it already. Uh Oh! There was a wee little misplacement we made, bagging her precious Hanukkah Wishlist. She takes it home after nine to five and crashes out on the romance novel piles on her couch. She blacks out, then she wakes up. She’s surrounded. By what you ask? Musk, a STINKY musk. A musk so thick and potent you could feel its stench ball up in your hands. You know what that means. The stench drives in the fight or flight response. She wan...

9 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Whispers During Free Period

Submitted to Contest #250

“Nothing is coming out the way I want! I hear it in my head, and it sounds good, but then I write it out and it hits the ear wrong, or seems stupid, or overly wordy, or bad, just plain…” Ms. Kraznecky cut me off before I could spiral anymore, “…Hold on, Penny. Take a beat, where is all this coming from? Is this about the assignment?” She said gesturing me to the seat across from her desk. I sat down with an exaggerated sigh, “I just… I have all these ideas and scenarios in my head for wrwasing something fun or imaginative, but this prompt is...

9 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Gullible

Submitted to Contest #250

Surely, Mrs Blanc did this assignment for her own amusement. She’s always taken me as one to gossip, and asking your students to write a story on what they’ve overheard will obviously include her colleagues. The aging badly woman had a sparkle in her eye as she gave out the assignment, and I swear you would think she was high by that grin on her face as she gathered our work.I know she knows the “subject” I based my story on is one she must have lapped up. It’ll have got me a good mark, which is what matters. That being said, if I knew she’d...

8 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

The Story That Shouldn't Be Told

Submitted to Contest #250

I was sitting in my usual spot in the back of the classroom, the fluorescent lights casting an antiseptic glow on the sea of desks and the teacher’s podium. The clock ticked away the minutes until the end of class, but Mrs. Parker, with her formidable presence, could make time stand still. She was a writer's writer, every sentence a symphony, every critique a dagger. Today, she had something new up her sleeve. "Your next assignment," she declared, her voice slicing through the ambient hum, "is to write a story based on an eavesdropped conver...

8 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Speaking Voices

Submitted to Contest #250

The bell rang, everyone took their seats, and the teacher, Mrs. Kennedy, began to shut the doors. As usual, Eric and Eilene showed up late but just in time to make it before the doors closed. They were dating and finding a secluded place to have lunch was often difficult. The class at first jeered and fawned but that was at the start of the semester, and we were well close to the end. Mrs. Kennedy frowned at them but let them inside to find their seats. Another day in High School English class. “Ok class,” Mrs. Kennedy began, “today we are g...

7 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Reputation

Submitted to Contest #250

Reputation is everything. It is not just a word; it is your entire life. Wouldn’t you try to protect it?Mr. Brooks was in the middle of giving a lecture about rumors. “Who can tell me why it’s important as a journalist to avoid rumors?” A student raises his hand, and Mr. Brooks calls on him. “Because you would lose credibility.” “Exactly, we want to maintain our reputation as a credible source,” Mr. Brooks says. “Now, how do rumors spread?” Mr. Brooks asks. He scans around and chooses William, who doesn’t have his hand up but instead ha...

7 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Timmy and the Secret Suprise

Submitted to Contest #250

Timmy and the Secret Surprise Once upon a time, in the cozy little town of Sunnyville, there was a preschool called Sunny Meadows. It was filled with happy children who loved to play, learn, and make new friends. One of these children was a curious little boy named Timmy. Timmy had a habit of listening in on conversations that weren’t meant for him. His ears perked up at any hint of a secret, and he couldn’t help but sneak closer to hear more. One sunny morning, while playing in the sandbox, Timmy overheard his teacher, Miss Honey, talking t...

7 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Choices and Consequences

Submitted to Contest #250

“How could you?”I cringed, not wanting to turn and face my accuser. Oh, I knew who it was. Had heard that voice drip venom at fellow students at the center.The difference is, I’ve never heard that venom directed at me before.Something in my heart clenched. This is what I’d been reduced to. “Look, Shirl,” I said quickly to cover my nerves as I turned to face her. The fist crushing my heart pumped the organ a time or two as I caught a look at the deep pools of her brown eyes, gorgeous even as they shimmered with tears....

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Ms. Privy

Submitted to Contest #250

Topic: Your teacher tasks you with writing a story based on an eavesdropped conversation. When the story is published your subject isn’t happy. Ms. Privy It is my senior year in high school! Yes!  Oh, this has been a great year! I have had a blast with my friends in school. On top of that, assignments in my classes have been few and far between. Even my least liked class, English Composition, had been enjoyable. But that enjoyment was all about to change.  My English Comp teacher, Ms. Pr...

6 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Who Is This Writer?

Submitted to Contest #250

Who is this Writer? The writing professor had asked for John to stay after class as he had a “special assignment” for him. John wondered what it could be. His marks were pretty good so far, and he didn’t want to do something that might lower his grade. “John, I’m sure that you are wondering what my ‘special assignment’ is for you. First off, I want to tell you that I think that you write well. I know that you want to be a reporter, so I thought I would give you this assignment to help you take a step forward towards your ...

6 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

An Oak-ward Revelation.

Submitted to Contest #250

In the quiet suburb of Willow Creek, life was as predictable as the tick-tock of a grandfather clock. Nestled between lush woods and serene lakes, Willow Creek was a picturesque enclave where the biggest scandal was Mrs. Dobbins' runaway cat. But for me, the tranquility was often a stark contrast to the chaos of my own life.I was born into a family that struggled to make ends meet. My father, a hardworking mechanic, often worked double shifts to keep the bills paid. My mother juggled part-time jobs while taking care of my younger siblings, a...

4 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

please, end the suffering and publish this

Submitted to Contest #250

I am, it seems, a terrible god. Worse than cruel, I am a bumbling, amateur god who cannot make up his damn mind. I am too saccharine to be cold-blooded, too ironic to be loving. Alas, I am a terrible god, and under my indecisive rule, one of my subjects has decided to rebel. I do not blame them. This is a story that began in one of those classes where professional gods teach their aspiring underlings how to be better at playing god. The prompt was: make one of your subjects overhear a conversation they shouldn't have heard. Perhaps I've watc...

3 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in which someone is afraid of being overheard.

Dialogue – 64 stories

Write a story about a child overhearing something they don’t understand.

Kids – 61 stories

Write a story in which someone can only hear one side of a conversation and must piece together the meaning of what they’ve heard.

Dialogue – 38 stories

A character overhears something at a black-tie event that puts the night in jeopardy.

Mystery – 44 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel